Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34541

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to carry out a new consultation regarding long-term chronic pain conditions; how this will be conducted, and take account of the differences between conditions; who will (a) organise and (b) carry out this consultation, and what the outcome was of its previous such consultation, including what improvements were recorded as a result of it.

We are exploring a new long term conditions strategy to better recognise the fact that many people living with long term conditions need the same types of support and care, regardless of their condition.

A long term conditions strategy will focus on ensuring equitable and sustainable access to the services that all people with long term conditions need, while still allowing for targeted action on condition-specific care and support where appropriate.

We have been engaging with clinicians, patients, carers and third sector organisations to find out what matters to them. We will shortly launch a full public consultation to ensure everyone can have their say.

This consultation will take place online via CitizenSpace and consideration will be given to include groups who will be unable to access the online platform.

In summer 2023 we engaged with stakeholders including clinicians, third-sector organisations and people with lived experience of chronic pain. Feedback received was used to inform the development of the updated Pain Management Service Delivery Framework – Implementation Plan.

Question reference: S6W-34520

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on (a) the comment by NatureScot on 19 July 2026 that “raptor persecution undertaken in connection with grouse moor management could take place anywhere on a property, not just on the grouse moor itself”, and (b) whether the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 needs to be amended to ensure that the 16AA grouse shooting licence covers an applicant’s whole landholding and not the grouse moor only.

The Scottish Government agrees with the comment made by NatureScot that raptor persecution undertaken in connection with grouse moor management could take place anywhere on a property, not just on the grouse moor itself.

NatureScot introduced a new condition to enable them to revoke or suspend a licence where there is evidence of raptor persecution, connected to the grouse moor but outside of the licensed area. The condition added by NatureScot is an alternative to amending the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. However, we will monitor the situation and, if necessary, consider amending the legislation.

Question reference: S6W-34135

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic collisions have occurred on each trunk road in each year since 2018, broken down by the severity of the incident.

From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious. This increase would not reflect an actual change in the severity of accidents occurring on Scottish roads but would instead reflect more accurate recording.

The following tables presents the total number of personal injury collisions (Slight, Serious and Fatal) for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Scottish Government does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).

All Personal Injury Collisions 2018 to 2021
Route	2018			2019			2020			2021
	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal
	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal
A1	20	7	1	25	3	0	7	9	1	9	8	0
A6091	2	1	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	1
A68	22	7	2	8	5	0	4	2	2	5	9	0
A7	7	4	2	10	4	0	4	2	0	3	5	0
A701	6	6	1	4	3	0	1	0	0	2	3	0
A702	19	1	3	16	4	0	7	4	0	12	5	0
A720	37	10	0	28	10	1	17	4	0	22	5	0
A725	28	4	1	24	5	0	10	5	0	9	3	1
A726	8	0	0	8	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	0
A727	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A737	13	5	0	16	7	0	10	4	0	8	5	0
A738	4	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0
A75	31	8	1	16	7	2	16	7	1	11	11	2
A751	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
A76	36	11	2	26	5	0	8	4	2	6	9	1
A77	24	10	1	14	17	2	12	10	0	7	9	1
A78	25	12	0	28	7	0	15	10	2	16	12	0
A8	16	2	0	21	4	1	8	3	1	5	4	0
A82	63	20	4	27	28	7	19	22	5	32	30	5
A828	6	5	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	3	1	0
A83	27	6	2	12	17	0	10	6	1	7	7	1
A830	6	0	0	4	3	2	1	1	0	4	2	0
A835	4	2	4	4	5	1	3	2	0	3	2	0
A84	6	5	0	10	7	0	6	3	1	3	0	1
A85	20	15	0	12	13	4	5	11	0	5	5	3
A86	4	3	0	2	1	0	2	1	0	0	4	0
A87	23	4	2	10	5	1	8	7	0	5	8	1
A876	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	1	0
A887	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
A889	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
A89	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A898	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	2	0	0	1	0
A9	63	27	10	50	36	6	33	19	2	36	24	3
A90	40	19	1	32	26	3	16	19	5	32	21	3
A92	30	15	0	35	10	1	15	16	2	35	8	0
A940	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A95	7	2	0	2	4	0	1	2	0	2	2	0
A956	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A96	24	11	1	17	16	5	5	9	3	10	13	2
A972	1	1	0	3	0	0	2	2	0	1	0	0
A977	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A985	7	3	0	6	4	2	6	3	2	4	4	0
A99	3	0	0	2	1	0	3	2	0	2	0	1
M73	11	1	1	8	2	0	1	1	0	3	4	0
M74	55	7	5	43	21	5	34	17	1	31	17	4
M77	12	5	0	11	1	0	7	3	0	3	2	0
M8	112	14	1	115	21	1	55	16	6	75	32	5
M80	26	5	0	25	8	1	9	3	0	17	3	2
M823	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1
M876	9	1	0	3	1	0	1	2	0	6	0	0
M898	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
M9	19	5	2	13	6	1	8	5	1	9	6	0
M90	18	5	0	11	9	1	8	4	1	12	5	1
TOTAL	900	271	49	709	333	49	384	246	39	461	295	39


All Personal Injury Collisions 2022 to 2024
Route	2022			2023			2024			2018 – 2024 TOTALS
	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal
	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal
A1	15	9	3	13	5	4	14	7	0	103	48	9
A6091	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	6	7	3
A68	4	3	1	6	11	0	10	6	1	59	43	6
A7	5	2	1	4	5	1	2	1	1	35	23	5
A701	4	0	1	2	1	0	4	4	0	23	17	2
A702	7	1	1	7	5	2	5	3	0	73	23	6
A720	23	3	1	21	4	1	20	6	1	168	42	4
A725	13	7	2	13	12	0	8	6	1	105	42	5
A726	2	2	1	6	4	0	3	1	0	29	11	1
A727	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
A737	2	2	0	5	3	1	6	4	2	60	30	3
A738	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	11	3	1
A75	12	11	1	24	18	1	25	16	5	135	78	13
A751	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
A76	9	7	1	14	11	2	10	4	2	109	51	10
A77	8	10	2	18	6	1	12	12	2	95	74	9
A78	12	8	3	10	12	0	10	12	1	116	73	6
A8	7	3	0	9	6	0	10	5	0	76	27	2
A82	24	20	5	31	36	3	25	31	3	221	187	32
A828	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	13	11	2
A83	4	7	1	3	7	2	5	7	3	68	57	10
A830	3	2	0	1	2	0	2	5	0	21	15	2
A835	4	3	1	4	7	1	2	2	0	24	23	7
A84	5	3	0	5	3	0	3	3	2	38	24	4
A85	11	12	0	13	11	4	11	10	4	77	77	15
A86	1	2	0	1	5	0	4	3	0	14	19	0
A87	2	4	0	9	7	2	9	12	1	66	47	7
A876	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	6	5	0
A887	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	3	2	1
A889	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0
A89	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
A898	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	5	5	0
A9	26	25	12	39	33	4	26	34	10	273	198	47
A90	26	14	3	32	14	3	20	19	2	198	132	20
A92	27	11	2	41	14	3	28	7	1	211	81	9
A940	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
A95	0	3	1	3	5	0	3	1	1	18	19	2
A956	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
A96	12	12	1	17	28	1	7	11	4	92	100	17
A972	0	2	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	11	7	0
A977	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0
A985	4	3	1	5	2	0	3	2	0	35	21	5
A99	0	0	0	3	1	1	2	0	0	15	4	2
M73	9	1	0	9	4	1	4	2	0	45	15	2
M74	29	19	1	37	17	2	40	23	2	269	121	20
M77	5	4	0	4	3	0	6	1	0	48	19	0
M8	57	23	3	76	26	4	71	32	0	561	164	20
M80	14	4	0	11	5	0	7	2	0	109	30	3
M823	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	2
M876	4	2	0	4	1	0	2	2	0	29	9	0
M898	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
M9	6	5	1	12	7	1	8	10	2	75	44	8
M90	14	7	0	14	7	0	20	14	0	97	51	3
TOTAL	414	262	53	537	352	46	456	325	51	3861	2084	326

Date Extracted – 03-02-2025

Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database

Notes: Statistics for Police Scotland

Date Period: 01-01-2018 – 31-12-2024

Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available at the time of retrieving the data from Transport Scotland’s accident manager system. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system:

1.Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland.

2.Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).

3.The accident information Transport Scotland holds is subject to change. E.g. we receive late returns from Police Scotland, who are responsible for recording details of injury accidents.

4.Annual Scottish accident figures are published by Transport Scotland on a yearly basis and can be found by entering Reported Road Casualties Scotland into your search engine.

5.From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious. This increase would not reflect an actual change in the severity of accidents occurring on Scottish roads but would instead reflect more accurate recording.

6.Statisticians within the Department for Transport have devised a method for adjusting the road casualty figures to ensure that they can be compared over time on a consistent basis. Transport Scotland’s Key Reported Road Casualties and Reported Road Casualties statistics publications will present both adjusted and unadjusted figures.

Question reference: S6W-34623

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what revenue it has received from agricultural leases or tenancies involving livestock farming on land that it owns in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-34621

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many livestock are kept on land that it owns, broken down by (a) species and (b) location.

Question reference: S6W-34518

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported criticisms from members of the conservation sector regarding the changes made to grouse shooting licences by NatureScot and, in the light of this, what steps it plans to ensure that the operation of section 16AA licences fulfils the intentions of (a) it and (b) the Parliament.

The Scottish Government is aware of the concerns of some conservation organisations regarding section 16AA of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, where a grouse shooting licence area is determined solely by the applicant. It is considered that there is the potential for the area to be very tightly defined so that it excludes most of the area where relevant offences might take place.

NatureScot have added a condition to licences so that certain relevant offences committed anywhere on the landholding can be taken into consideration as to whether to revoke or suspend a licence.

We are considering whether any further steps need to be taken to address this issue.

Question reference: S6W-34385

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the implementation of similar measures in Scotland, what its position is on the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 in Ireland.

The Scottish Government draws on the best available international evidence when developing policy, including considering the effects of public health legislation in other countries such as Ireland.

The Scottish Government is a member of the British-Irish Council Drug and Alcohol Work Sector. The Scottish Government engages with officials from Ireland and the UK nations as part of that Work Sector to discuss policy developments including in relation alcohol harm.

Question reference: S6W-34229

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role Food Standards Scotland has played in advising on government policy related to obesity.

Food Standards Scotland was established in April 2015 as the public sector food body for Scotland, to protect the health and wellbeing of consumers through three objectives set under the Food (Scotland) Act 2015. FSS has a unique

role in government, working independently of Ministers and industry, to provide advice which is impartial, and based on robust science and data. The Act includes a statutory objective to improve the extent to which members of the public have diets conducive to good health.

Since 2015 FSS have advised government policy regarding dietary improvements as outlined in the following Board papers which are published here: Board meetings | Food Standards Scotland.

A number of the recommendations outlined within the Board papers have been incorporated into Scottish Government policies and action plans including the Diet and Healthy weight delivery and Out of Home action plans. An overview of their public health nutrition strategy is available here: Public Health Nutrition Strategy | Food Standards Scotland which sets out their approach to addressing the statutory objective to improving the diet. It signals a greater focus on measures to influence the food environment supporting healthier and more sustainable options for consumers.

Question reference: S6W-34806

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the investment zone for the North East Scotland region to be in place.

Question reference: S6W-34592

Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people from each NHS board area have had a thrombectomy in each month since November 2020, broken down by thrombectomy hub.

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